Right Here Waiting
by Gilderoy Lockhart
Summary: Kind of a song fic... ok it is a song fic. Basically I introduce a character you will later see in Tonga's What Might Have Been Part 2 named Gwenna Talory. She and Snape are... well... an item shall we say? Ok, stop gagging now ;) Anyways, this is the


Body

_Guess I should start explaining eh? Well in this story we see Gwenna Talory, who is introduced in Tonga's _What Might Have Been Part Two_. Since I was bored I decided it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and post this story for your reading enjoyment. And now for the disclaimer (why why why? This should be commonplace knowledge by now!): I am in no way affiliated with J.K. Rowling. The characters Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, and Lord Voldemort (and any other Death Eater mind you) are all children of her brilliant mind. Gwenna Talory is from my own demented one. Please R/R if Fido will let you. And hopefully I can add more to it later, so come back just to see. ;)_

_The song "Right Here Waiting" was written, sung and probably produced by Richard Marx (oh the man is brilliant!). Here you go. Enjoy!_

_~Mal (aka Gilderoy)_

_PS- this Gilderoy is a girl, thank you very much ;) and THANKS TONGA!_

__

**_Right Here Waiting_**

The gray sky hovered stationary above the train station on a cold, damp Saturday afternoon. The young, red headed woman, stood waiting on a platform, looking up at the sky periodically and fighting tears. It had only been two years since she had left Hogwarts school of magic. It had been only a month since she had to part from the love of her life. Now she was doing what she had to do. Not only was she going into hiding from Voldemort's Death Eaters (which she had been a part of) but she was also heading off to teach potions at Beauxbatons. Yet something didn't feel right to her. The fact that she now had to hide from the only man she had ever loved, who, coincidentally, was also a Death Eater, was eating away at her heart. Constantly fighting tears she watched as her train enter the station. Picking up her trunk and her Owl, Harbinger, she waited patiently and bit her lip. This would be the last time she would stand at King's Cross Station, for her future now consisted of teaching in France. 

As an attendant on the Muggle train was helping her with her belongings, she thought she heard someone call her name. She looked around but saw no familiar looking person and then, taking the Muggle's hand as he helped her up, entered the train and moved to a compartment. That was when she saw him. Running towards the train and calling her name at the same time, knocking over various Muggles while doing so, was a tall, young dark haired man dressed entirely in black. Her heart jumped as she said his name with tears in her eyes, "Severus." 

She rushed towards the entrance that she had come through and as she appeared he raced to her. "Gwenna!" He cried and immediately he took her in his arms and held her tightly. "Please...please don't leave," he said softly, tears growing in his black eyes. 

"Severus, darling, we talked about this... I have to leave." 

"But you won't even tell me where." He paused at looked at his feet. Suddenly he was whispering, "It's about the Death Eaters isn't it?" 

She nodded and then looked away from his gaze. "I can't live in fear." 

"I would protect you__" 

"But you're one of them..." 

"I'm not," he said, biting his lip. Her expression changed to one of shock for she knew that they had been Death Eaters together, unknowingly at one point, and now that Voldemort was killing anyone who turned their backs on him she was very surprised he would say such a thing in public. Her eyes began to water as she stared into his. He held her so close and so warmly and at one point stroked her face gently as a tear rolled down her cheek. "When you gave it up over a year ago, Dumbledore asked me to stay as a spy," he said, so quietly that only she could hear. At one point she even wondered if he was speaking at all, if they were sharing thoughts. "When he told me you were leaving and then when you told me..." He was beginning to get choked up and the tears began to show, "I thought I'd lost everything. I saw my dream of Gwenna Talory becoming Mrs. Severus Snape diminish. I have nothing without you. You're the only person I've ever loved and you must know that where ever you go...whatever you do... I will be right here...waiting...for you. I love you." 

By now Gwenna was crying so hard that couldn't see anything in front of her. Somehow she managed to successfully kiss Snape and refused to let go until the conductor gave a five minute warning. "You know I would never leave you," she said through tears, "but if I'm killed tomorrow, would staying be worth it? Oh Severus, oh how I wish I could stay." She bit her lip as he kissed her again. 

"Dumbledore is a good choice as a secret-keeper," he whispered, sniffing slightly in order of controlling himself. "But I think I'll always know where you are...even if you are oceans apart, day after day. Love knows no borders...nor does it know fear." 

"ALL ABOARD!" cried the Muggle conductor. 

Snape looked up, horrified, as if his heart had been torn for his chest. He knew he had to let her go. He looked at her lovingly and kissed her for one final time. "We'll see each other again, my love," she said, her eyes red from crying. She climbed aboard the train and when the Muggle closed the door she was still standing there, looking back at him, waving, crying. He wiped his eyes and mouthed "I love you" to which she responded with an "I love you too." The train began to move and he tried to keep up, tried to keep sight of her, but eventually the platform ended and the train roared out of sight. 

And that is when the rain began to fall. He looked up to the sky and just stood there, letting the water fall on every inch of his body as if wanting to wash himself away, to leave everything that had once affected him, everything except for his Gwenna. As the rain began to stop, Snape sat on a bench not far from where he had last seen her. He took a picture of her out of his pocket, where she was waving and blowing kisses to him. He smiled and then felt the tears begin to flow again. After putting away the pictures he covered his face with his hands and sobbed as hard as he could. Now, more than ever, he wanted to destroy Voldemort and the Death Eaters. He wanted to have the love of his life in his arms again for how was he going to live without her? Certainly his teaching position as Professor of Potions at Hogwarts come the fall was going to bring a much needed change, but he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming bitterness in his heart that he, at this moment in time, saw no end to. He sighed heavily and looked up at the dreary gray sky, thinking that perhaps the sky was feeling as sad as he. Upon standing he discovered his knees were like jelly and his heart had sunk into his stomach. For the first time in eight years he would be without Gwenna. 

As he began to leave the station he thought heavily of every experience he had ever shared with her and eventually he found himself outside the Leaky Cauldron, as if the old inn had drawn him there. He entered and found the place deserted with the exception of the master, an old wizard named Tom. He sat down and asked the man for parchment, ink and a quill. After his request was filled he began writing. 

"My dearest Gwenna, 

Had you told me when we first met that you would be everything that I would ever consider living for, I would more than likely have laughed. The truth is, I don't know how I'm going to live without you. All I can feel is a profound bitterness due to the fact that I cannot be with you. At the same time, as I look back on the past, I realize how I took for granted, all the times that I thought would last somehow...that _I knew_ would last. I hear the laughter, I taste the tears, but I can't get near you now and that is what hurts the most. Now I want more than anything to fulfill my duty to our people. And more importantly...I want to marry you, to live a life with you as we should be doing. I love you. 

Love Always, 

Severus." 

He looked at his letter and, after being fully satisfied with it, he shoved it in his pocket to be mailed later. Snape left the inn and headed home, a small flat in London, which he had once shared with Gwenna. He was no longer comfortable living here by himself and, upon giving his owl the letter to his beloved, he began another letter, asking Dumbledore to let him move into Hogwarts as soon as possible. His owl was still waiting patiently, knowing its master was about to give him an extra assignment. Snape gave the owl a treat and tied one letter to its leg and had it hold the other in its beak. Once the owl was off, he sighed heavily and began packing. Snape knew Dumbledore would honor his request, for the old wizard admired and trusted him greatly. 

He fumbled through several letters lying on his desk, one of which was from the Hogwarts headmaster in response to his letter about the Potters being on the list. Even though James Potter had been Snape's worst enemy at Hogwarts, he still found himself worried when he discovered that Potter and his wife Lily had been marked for death. To make matters more complicated, Lily was expecting a child. Snape had alerted Dumbledore immediately and he could still see the grave look upon the ancient wizard's face when he had told him the "traitor" was either Peter Pettigrew or Sirius Black, both close friends of the Potters. He picked up the letters from the desk and carried them over to his trunk and, after opening it, threw them in. Already he was making plans of what to do in the next twenty-four hours and that including selling the flat, perhaps to a Muggle if necessary. It wouldn't be hard removing all wizardry elements from the humble home and it was located on a Muggle street. He swiftly moved around the room, packing everything that he was taking with him, then, suddenly, he stopped. He saw his reflection in the long mirror on the back of a closet door. As he walked closer to it, he noticed how much he had changed in the previous hours. His skin was paler than usual, with the exception of the dark circles beneath his eyes. His black eyes were encircled by red, bloodshot from where he had been crying. His goatee was flecked with a few light gray hairs. It was as if he had aged several years in only 24 hours. Was this what life without Gwenna was going to be like for him? Was he going to always be as miserable as he then felt? 

It wasn't until he heard a tapping at the window that he broke his gaze with the mirror. He turned quickly to see Gwenna's owl, Harbinger, tapping at the window with a letter in his beak. Snape walked calmly to the window and opened it. Immediately the bird perched on his shoulder, nuzzling him affectionately. Snape sat in a chair and Harbinger walked on to the table next to it. He gave the bird an owl treat after taking the letter from his beak. He opened it slowly, elated that his owl had reached her so quickly and yet saddened that this would be the only correspondence he would have with her for a long time. 

"My love, 

Oh Severus, you have no idea how excited I was to see your Owl. I hope Harbinger found you all right and I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long. I would've responded with your owl but he left as quickly as he came to take your other letter off. In all honesty, I don't know how I'm going to live without you either. All I know is that as I start teaching at a magic school on the mainland, I will think of you always. 

More than likely you are wondering where I'll be teaching and as much as I would like to tell you, I can only say that Dumbledore will inform you of that. But I am not hard to find and your owl will always be a welcomed sight. Good luck my love, you will be a wonderful Potions teacher at Hogwarts. 

Love you always, 

Gwen. 

PS. Voldemort believes am dead, as do the other Death Eaters." 

_So that's how she's escaping,_ he thought as he opened the trunk and placed the letter in with the others. Harbinger chirped at him and he turned to look at the snowy owl, it's golden eyes staring undauntedly into his. After a moment's pause, he pulled out a piece of parchment and began scribbling on it. Then he reread it to himself; 

"Darling Gwenna, 

Oceans apart, day after day, and I slowly go insane. I hear your voice on my mind yet it doesn't stop the pain. I'll see you next to never and I guess I will learn to adapt. But please remember I will always be right here waiting for you. 

Love Forever, 

Severus." 

He gave the parchment to the owl and watched it take flight. As he sighed deeply, he returned to packing. Tomorrow he would be back at Hogwarts thanks to Albus Dumbledore. 


End file.
